crabby

dined alone at mccormick and schicks tonight. ive been doing that a lot lately. dining alone that is, not going to m&s. i finally realised that i dont know anybody who shares my passion for eating out, so rather than battle with microwaved daal, i should just go out on my own.

id been to this restaurant a couple of times before. its a seafood place, and i adore seafood. i guess you cant keep a bong away from maach for too long, :). its a bit expensive but not outrageous.

while i was digging into my platter of shrimp, scallop and oyster, i remembered a time many years ago when a friend told me that to cook crabs you have to chop their legs off and then boil them alive. my gentle heart revolted and i declared that i would never eat seafood again. after a while that extended to all kinds of meat. i even remember joining some girls from school in PFA rally, and even attending a couple of maneka gandhis talks. my grandmother was apalled. 'maach khabe na mane?'. but i didnt budge. then that phase passed too, like all phases in my life. one by one, all gods animals reappeared on my plate.

today as i used my spoon to scoop out meat from an oyster shell, i thought that the oyster must have died painfully, but i didnt flinch. after so many years, the idea of a painful death isnt as terrifying as it must be to a 15-year old schoolgirl.

instead i thought of my friend. he read a lot and was always telling me wondrous stories. none of us could ever prove him wrong and he knew it. so he would gleefully add his own embellishments to everything he said. i remember when i was 10 he told me that babies were made when a boy does 'su-su' inside a girl. i was disgusted and called him a liar. he wasn't too far from the truth though. i havent seen him in 9 years now. i hope he put his immense stock of knowledge to good use somewhere. i also hope his ideas on how babies are made were corrected by some kind soul.

i just googled and discovered that crabs ARE cooked by being boiled alive. what a smart little boy!